


Carnaval Del Barrio

by sapphiclabvibes



Series: In The Heights AU [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Celebrations, Dancing, Gen, Minor Hunk/Shay (Voltron), Minor Keith/Lance (Voltron), based on In The Heights, everyone speaks spanish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-01
Updated: 2018-12-01
Packaged: 2019-09-02 21:58:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16795534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sapphiclabvibes/pseuds/sapphiclabvibes
Summary: Tired of everyone's whining, Allura tries to lift everyone's spirits.





	Carnaval Del Barrio

**Author's Note:**

> i tagged relationships because there are some mentions and some interactions but this fic does not focus on either of them

Allura couldn’t handle it anymore. The shouting, the bickering, the unbearable heat. She stood on the top step leading to her salon and shouted.

“Hey!” Only a few people turned at the sound of her voice, so she shouted again. “Hey!” This time everyone fell silent and turned their attention toward her. “What is this nonsense I’m seeing here? Since when are Latin people scared of heat?” She stepped down and walked to the middle of the crowd that had gathered on the street. When she was sure all eyes were on her, she began to speak again. “When I was a little girl growing up in the hills of Vega Altea, my favorite time of year was Christmas time.”

“Why?” someone asked from the crowd. It was Romelle, pushing through to stand beside her friend and business partner.

Allura smiled and continued her story. “There wasn’t an ounce of snow, but oh, the coquito would flow. As we sang the Aguinaldo, the carnaval would begin to grow.” She looked back at the purple sign that read _Allura’s Unisex Salon_. “Business is closed, and we’re about to go. Let’s have a carnaval del barrio!”

The attention she’d gathered with her story snapped at her suggestion. Her neighbors groaned and began to dissipate, their minds returning to their own problems. But Allura wasn’t giving up that easily.

“Carnaval del barrio!” she began to chant. “Carnaval del barrio!”

Someone behind her began to join in. She turned to see Matt and Pidge moving toward her, huge smiles on their sweaty faces. The three of them continued their chanting, trying desperately to get others to join in. They weren’t participating, but they weren’t leaving either, which Allura took as a good sign. Encouraged by this, she moved from chanting to singing.

“We don’t need electricity! / Get off your butt, _¡avanza!_ / _Saca la maraca_ , bring your tambourine / Come and join the _parranda_.”

More people had joined in her chant by now. Some were dancing in the streets, either alone or with a partner. Others were running into houses and shops to grab cool drinks to share with their neighbors. Allura joined in the dancing, moving her hips to the nonexistent rhythm.

Romelle tapped her arm, her eyebrows wrinkled. “I have a question. I don’t know what you’re singing.”

Allura just smiled and took her business partner’s hand, twirling her in a circle. “Just make it up as you go, honey. We’re improvising, you can sing anything. Whatever pops into your head, just so long as you sing.”

That encouraged her enough to smile and start softly singing. “Well, my mom is Dominican-Cuban / My dad is from Chile and P.R. which means / I’m Chile-Domini-Curican / But I always say I’m from Queens!”

“ _¡Wepa!_ ”

Allura pulled the blonde girl in for a dance. They moved together to the chanting and clapping of the members of Washington Heights. They switched partners often, Allura trying to dance with everyone who shared her love for her culture and her community. She was so caught up in the joy of the impromptu celebration that she didn’t notice Shay approaching until she almost crashed into her. Shay caught them before they could fall, obviously annoyed.

“Why is everyone so happy?” she spat. “We’re sweating and we have no power. I’ve gotta get out of here soon because this block just keeps getting worse. You can’t even go to a club with a friend without having somebody shove you.”

Allura scoffed at her use of words. “ _¡Ay por favor!_ Shay, don’t pretend that Hunk is your friend, we all know that he loves you.” She dragged out the word love, teasing the younger girl just a little

A collective “Ooh!” rose from the crowd and Shay blushed. Romelle appeared beside Allura, face flushed and breathless.

“Now that you mention it,” she said, grinning at Shay, “that sexual tension is easy to see!”

Shay threw her hands up in exasperation. “This is bogus.”

“Haven’t you noticed you get all your coffee for free?” Allura asked, placing a hand on her shoulder and winking at her employee before returning to the throng of dancers. She lost herself in the singing and chanting of her friends. She was so wrapped up in the movements that she didn’t notice Hunk approaching until someone called out his name.

The bodega owner had a huge smile on his face as strode into the middle of the crowd. Everyone stopped and waited to hear what he had to say.

“Everyone gather ‘round, I’ve got an announcement! Wow, it involves large amounts of cash. Somewhere in the range of ninety-six thousand!”

The reaction from the crowd was immediate. Allura had never seen that kind of money, and she was sure nobody else in Washington Heights had either. Everyone wanted to ask Hunk questions, but he wasn’t done with his announcement.

“I’m closing shop! Pidge, grab everybody a soda. Yo, everybody grab a bottle, kiss it up to God, ‘cause Abuela Krolia won the lotto! And we’re booking a flight for D.R. tomorrow!”

The whole block erupted in cheers. People were congratulating Hunk and pulling him in for hugs and asking him to check up on family they had back home. Allura hugged her friend and long-time neighbor tightly. Over his shoulder, she saw Pidge and Shay just staring at Hunk’s back.

A new chant started up then. People came out on their fire escapes, waving the flags of their home countries until the sky was just dots of blue between white and red and green and yellow fabric.

“ _Alza la bandera, la bandera Dominicana. Alza la bandera, la bandera Puertoriqueña. Alza la bandera, la bandera Mexicana. Alza la bandera, la bandera Cubana_.”

Matt grabbed one of the flags and held it above his head as he began to shout. “ _¡Pa’rriba esa bandera! ¡Álzala donde quiera! ¡Recuerdo de mi tierra!_ ” Hunk joined him and their collective voices boomed through the streets. “ _¡Me acuerdo de mi tierra! ¡Esa bonita bandera! ¡Contiene mi alma entera! Y cuando yo me muera ¡entiérrame en mi tierra!_ ”

Everyone began dancing again and Allura was pulled in by Lance Shirogane. He had sweat dripping down his face, but his smile was just as big and bright as everyone else’s. She was spun to many different partners until she ended up with Romelle. The two smiled and moved off to the side to catch their breath.

“Hunk is off to a better place now,” Romelle commented, taking a half empty bottle of water she was offered.

“It seems so,” Allura said. “But look at Shay.”

The girl looked heartbroken as she watched everyone dance and congratulate Hunk on his newfound wealth. She could deny her feelings all she wanted, but Allura could read people. She knew exactly how Shay felt.

Keith was the next one to step up to his friend. Allura couldn’t remember seeing him earlier, but in her defense she hadn’t really been looking for him.

“Everything changes today,” he said, clapping a hand on Hunk’s shoulder. “Goodbye, Mr. Shirogane. I’m taking over the barrio.”

“We’re getting out of the barrio,” Romelle chimed in, nudging Allura beside her.

Allura’s mind flew to a piece of gossip she had heard the day before. She followed Keith’s gaze to where Lance was spinning in the street. All gossip has some truth to it, she thought. She pushed off the wall she was leaning against and made her way through the crowd to where Keith stood talking with his friends.

“Hey, Mr. Kogane,” she said, allowing a slightly flirtatious and teasing tone to sneak into her voice. “Have you seen any horses today?”

Keith looked confused. “What do you mean, Allura?”

She grinned and looked over her shoulder at the barrio’s golden boy. “I heard you and Lance went for a roll in the hay.”

The boy’s face turned pale, which was all the confirmation Allura needed. Around them, everyone gasped before immediately moving to tease Keith. Allura took his hand and pulled him through the crowd until they reached their target. She tapped Lance on the shoulder, forcing him to stop dancing. His smile grew impossibly wide when he saw Keith and Allura could see that some color had returned to the other boy’s cheeks.

“Good luck, you two,” the hairdresser said as she threw them together.

Lance pressed Keith’s knuckles to his lips before sweeping him into a dance. Allura watched them, remembering what it had been like to be young and in love like them. Smiling, she turned back to Hunk, only to find him arguing with Pidge.

“You’re leaving for the Dominican Republic?!” she yelled. She turned from her cousin to address the whole crowd. “Is this what you want? If we close the bodega, the neighborhood is gone. Takashi already sold the dispatch and Allura and Romelle are closing the salon. Don’t you see? We’re powerless.”

“They’ll never turn the lights back on now,” Shay chimed in, stepping up beside the redhead.

“So we’re powerless. Light a candle,” Hunk said, his calm voice a contrast to Pidge’s angry tone. “There’s nothing here that we can’t handle.”

“I’m not trying to be funny.” Pidge’s voice is threatened by tears.

“We’re giving a third of the money to you, Katie.”

The small girl stopped, eyes wide. “What?” Allura assumed that she had just done the math and she was about to receive thirty-two thousand dollars.

“Maybe you’re right, Katie,” Hunk began, his voice still soft. “Maybe we’re powerless, a corner full of foreigners. Maybe this neighborhood’s changing and this is our last night together. However, do you want to waste it when the end is so close you can taste it? You can bury your head in the sand, I’m gonna fly this flag that I got in my hand.” He grabbed the flag of his home country and held it high above him.

Matt started his chant again, and this time Allura joined in. “ _¡Pa’rriba esa bandera! ¡Álzala donde quiera! ¡Esa bonita bandera! ¡Contiene mi alma entera!_ ”

Hunk’s voice sounded above them all, filling the sky. “From Puerto Rico to Santo Domingo, wherever we go we rep our people!” He held out a hand to Shay, who was still standing off to the side, not wanting to be involved. “Shay, forget about what could have been and dance with me one last night in the hood again.”

The barrio watched with bated breath to see if she would accept his invitation. Tentatively, she placed her hand in his. There a split second where everybody just stared at them. Then Hunk broke out in a smile and began dancing with Shay as if they’d been partners for years.

As the sun set behind the George Washington Bridge, Allura savored her last moments in the barrio, knowing that her neighborhood would be okay.

**Author's Note:**

> i has been almost a month since i've posted ANYTHING and over a month since i've added anything to this series. i hope you all enjoy this!
> 
> follow me on tumblr @sapphiclabvibes
> 
> leave a comment if you liked it reading your nice words keeps me motivated and helps me fight off the large amount of existential dread looming over me at all times : )


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